West Virginia Mountaineers Unveil New Uniforms

Dec 29, 2012; Bronx, NY, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers marching band performs prior to the start of the 2012 New Era Pinstripe Bowl against the Syracuse Orange at Yankee Stadium. Syracuse defeated West Virginia 38-14. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

While the annual Gold-Blue Game was going on at Milan Puskar Stadium, the social media scene exploded with the news of West Virginia University football team’s new uniforms. If you still have yet to see the new duds, see the video below:

September 8, 2012; Berkeley, CA, USA; California Golden Bears wide receiver Keenan Allen (21) returns a punt for a touchdown against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds during the fourth quarter at Memorial Stadium. The California Golden Bears defeated the Southern Utah Thunderbirds 50-31. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Leave it to Nike to make West Virginia resemble California more and more as time goes along. The gold helmets with blue face masks, white helmets with blue flying WV, and the monochromatic numerals all but make the two schools identical at a quick glance. From a macro level, I just do not understand how or why it is so difficult to make two schools with similar colors look different.

But this is Nike, and they are convinced that everyone is desperate to sport their flywire collars.

When you take time to look at the subtle elements of the uniform system, they really did make strides to pay homage to the great state of West  Virginia.

The state motto “Montani Semper Liberi” on the back of the collar is a good way to remind players of the people of the Mountain State that they represent every time they put on the old gold and blue. The canary, a nice tribute to the state’s mining industry (similar to the old Pro Combat uniforms).

Even the numerals, based on pickaxes, is a nice tribute to the state. But that does not make them aesthetically appealing. The sharp lines of the numerals is futuristic and interesting, but just does not sit right with me. Perhaps it is just too new for the font to be appealing. Nothing a few victories can’t fix I guess.

The matte finish of the helmets fits with the latest helmet trends being set across the country. This kind of cutting-edge design will surely resound with Mountaineers recruits. After all, that is the essence of why you change your uniform system, to get more kids interested in coming to Morgantown.

I’m not sure if it is just my computer, but it does appear as though there is an influx of black in these uniforms. The facemask on the blue helmet and the side panels on the blue uniforms do not match the blue of the rest of the uniform. It could be a different shade of blue caused by the materials used, but that bit of detail is also not sitting well with me.

But enough about my views, what do you think HailWV readers? Leave your perception of the new uniform system in the comments section.